WEBMASTER'S NOTE: This short biography, which appeared in The
Biographical Review of Johnson, Massac, Pope and Hardin Counties Illinois
(1893), was written and published during Lemuel's lifetime. Note the mention of
his wounds received "on a march from Shawneetown to Paducah, Ky." in
the second paragraph. Note also that the spelling of the last name is rendered
"Laurence" here rather than "Lawrence" which seems to be the
spelling used by the family today. Paragraph breaks added by webmaster.

LEMUEL LEE LAURENCE

Lemuel L. Laurence, who lives in the village
of New Burnside, Johnson County, was born in Graves County, KY, August 12, 1838.His father was Henry G. Laurence, a farmer in Illinois and formerly a
miller of Virginia, who had mills on his own farm.He was born in 1807 in, and went with his parents in his youth to
Kentucky.His father, Thomas D.
Laurence, was a native of Virginia, and served as a private solder in the
Revolutionary War.Lemuel L.
Laurence has a relic of those olden days in the shape of a pair of very long
stockings, made at home from the flax grown on his grandfather’s farm, that
the worthies of those days were in the habit of wearing with their knee
breeches.These hose weigh nearly
half a pound and tell the story of his great stature.He was twice married, and had by his two wives two sons and six
daughters, of whom Henry G. Laurence was a son by the second wife.Thomas D. Laurence died in Kentucky at an advance age, his widow living
some years afterward and dying in 1852.Had
she lived seven days longer, she would have received a pension for the service
of her husband in the Revolutionary War.Henry
G. Laurence was a well-educated man and taught school in his early life.He married Sallie Balcom, a native of North Carolina.

After our subject’s father’s marriage,
which occurred in Kentucky in 1825, he lived in Kentucky twenty- five years, and
in the spring of 1850 emigrated from Kentucky to Illinois with his own team and
covered wagon, bringing with him all his sheep and cattle.Mr. Laurence bought a squatter’s claim of one hundred and twenty acres
of land, and also other lands, until he owned in the aggregate three hundred and
twenty acres, the patents to which our subject still has in his possession.When he moved to Illinois from Kentucky he had but limited means, and
brought with him his wife, seven sons and three daughters, of which family
Lemuel was the seventh child and sixth son.Of these children four sons and one daughter still survive, namely:Thomas N., the first born, a farmer of Pope County, and who was a member
of Company B, Sixth Illinois Cavalry.Lemuel
L., our subject, was also a member of the same company, going out as a
Lieutenant in 1861, and serving about nine months from September 1861, when he
was severely wounded by receiving a charge from a double-barreled shotgun and
from a rifle or pistol, four buckshot lodging in his arm and lung.This was on the march from Shawneetown to Paducah, Ky.William M. is a farmer of Simpson Township, now in impaired health.H. H. is a farmer of Burnside Township; and Sarah A. is the wife of James
Farless, a farmer of Texas.The
father of these children died on his farm March 14, 1861, in his fifty-fifth
year.A large sycamore tree is now
standing near New Burnside which was cut and used as a measure for his coffin by
the undertaker at the time of his death, and afterward stuck in the ground near
where the coffin was made.He was
large and of fine figure, being six feet tall, and weighing two hundred and ten
pounds.His widow survived him by
many years, dying in 1887, eighty-two years old lacking seven days.She was born the same year as her husband, and they rest side by side in
the old Reynoldsburgh Cemetery.

Lemuel L. Laurence was marred May 7, 1857 to
Phoebe Dalton, of Kentucky, daughter of Edwin and Eliza (Laurence) Dalton, but
although their ancestors were of the same name they were not relatives.They came to Johnson County in 1852.Mr. Laurence has been a farmer most of his life, and lived for many years
on the old home farm of which he was the owner.He now has a farm of one hundred and fifteen acres, which is a part of
the old homestead on which his mother spent her last years with him.He bought his present home, a frame house, 24x75 feet in size, and two
stories high, with a cellar underneath, with no mortgage upon it.This is the largest house in New Burnside, and was built in 1876 and 1887
at a cost of about $3,000.He also
owns several lots, which together with the property above described, make a fine
home, to which he moved in March, 1892.Mr.
And Mrs. Laurence have buried one son and two daughters, who died either in
infancy or early childhood.They
have seven children living, five sons and two daughters, namely:David H., a farmer of Burnside township, who has two sons and two
daughters; Ulysses Grant, a farmer of Simpson Township, residing in Ozark, who
has a wife, two sons and one daughter, his wife being a daughter of Rev. C.H.
Caldwell; Maud, wife of W.L. Keltner, of New Burnside, who has two sons and two
daughters; M.C., a dealer in musical instruments, who has a wife, but no
children; Marshal L., a farmer of Burnside Township, who has one daughter;
Josiah W., a young man living at home and attending school; and Ella, a young
miss of sixteen years.All of these
children have been well educated.

Mr. Laurence was a Justice of the Peace
three and a-half years and School Director for many years, serving
satisfactorily in that capacity.He
was at one time an Odd Fellow and was formerly a Republican, but is now a member
of the People’s Party.He was a
member of William Laurence Post No. 538, G.A.R., recently disbanded, and in
religion is a Free Thinker.He has
never been sued in his life for any debt he contracted, and has in his
possession the first and last note that he ever gave.He is a gentleman n every respect, his word is as good as his bond, and
he is one in whom his fellow-men can put a great deal of trust.

"Lemuel L., our subject, was also a member of the same company (Company
B, 6th Illinois Cavalry), going out as a Lieutenant in 1861, and serving
about nine months from September 1861, when he was severely wounded by
receiving a charge from a double-barreled shotgun and from a rifle or pistol,
four buckshot lodging in his arm and lung. This was on the march from
Shawneetown to Paducah, Ky." (from the biographical sketch above,
underscores added.)

This is where Lt. Lawrence was wounded by Marble
Camden and his daughter, Elizabeth, after Marble and Mack Camden had been
wounded by Lt. Lawrence, at what is locally remembered as the
"Battle of Camden." Marble and one of his sons was also wounded, which
was what prompted Elizabeth to fire the decisive shot.

RECONCILIATION

Bitter
feelings over the Lawrence-Camden
fight were finally laid to rest with the marriage of Monta Eudora Camden to
Joseph Henry Lawrence in 1894.

Monta was Marble Camden's granddaughter. Her father was Marble and Sally
Camden's
third son, Christopher Columbus Camden. She was the youngest of nine
children. The Camden Geneology by Mrs. Turner give the following data.